Situation Report: Dhaka, April 26, 2015: Hazard Type: Earthquake

Location: Nepal, India and Bangladesh

Reporting Period: 26 April?15

Location: Nepal, India and Bangladesh
Detail Information:
An earthquake rattled the Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rongpur, Kushtia and different parts of the country on April, 25. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake’s epicenter was 81 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal at a depth of 9.3 moles. The Meteorological Department stated that the epicenter of the earthquake was 745 km north-west of Bangladesh. Tremors were felt also across the region, in India, Tibet, China, Tibet and Pakistan (Prothom Alo; bdnews24.com; the Daily Star, April, 25; and CNN, April, 26).
Another Earthquake followed the earlier one as an aftershock at 13.08 on 26th April to hit Nepal with a magnitude of 6.7 along with Bangladesh and India (Prothom Alo; bdnews24.com; the Daily Star, April, 26; and CNN, April, 26).
Damage Information:
Bangladesh: In Bangladesh, total 5 people were killed and up to 100 people were injured while evacuating. One female was killed by collapse of wall made of mud along with other two women were killed in Pabna and Dhaka. One worker was killed along with 50 injuries in Savar. Another death toll occurred in Sunamganj. 50 readymade garment workers were injured at Ishwardi (Situation Report, DDM, April 25; Prothom, April, 26). 23 buildings were damaged in all over Bangladesh (Situation Report, DDM, and April, 25).

Earthquake, 25 April: Damage and loss in Bangladesh
Death Injury Structural Damage
4 persons died (1 inSavar, Dhaka; 1 in Bogra; 1 in Sunamganj; &1 in Pabna) ? 10-12 workers injured atMission Group Garment
Factory in Savar
? 2-3 workers injured at Kardena garment in Comilla
? Five story building develops?cracks in Bangla Bazar, Dhaka? Six story building tilted in Nawabpur, Dhaka
? Five story building tilted in Mirpur, Dhaka
? Seven story building tilted in Keraniganj, Dhaka.
? A hotel tilted in Baridhara , Dhaka
? 2 commercial buildings tilted in Narayanganj
? 1 garment factory tilted in Gazipur
? 1 school damaged in Gopalganj
? 10 story commercial building with cracks in Feni
? A building with?cracks in Nabiganj, Sylhet
? A school tilted in Gangachara upazila, Rangpur
? 2 schools damaged in Gaibandha
? 2 buildings damaged in Rajshahi
? 4 buildings tilted in Naogaon
? Crack found at school in Sonatola, Bogra
Source: Disaster situation report, DDM, April, 25, 2015

Nepal: The 7.8 magnitude quake along with a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.6 followed by nearly three dozen other aftershocks struck an area of central Nepal between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara on Saturday morning (April 25, 2015). The Home Ministry identifies that more than 2263 people were killed and 4,718 people were injured (till 17.00, CNN, April 26) which mainly include only information of cities. The earthquake flattened homes, buildings and temples, causing widespread damage along with wrecking many historic buildings include the Dharahara tower, the landmark nine- story structure. Kathmandu airport was shut till 4 pm, Indigo, SpiceJet flights forced back after fresh tremors jolt Nepal (India today April, 26) Mobile phones, Electricity and other communications were disrupted. Around 6.6 million people are affected in Nepal according to the UN Office in Kathmundu (India today April, 26). The Government of Nepal declared the National Emergency. (ekantipur.com, April, 26)
Earthquake 1
Building tilted due to earthquake in Nepal
Earthquake 2? A man trapped under a building in Nepal
Government of Bangladesh provided 10 tons of reliefs including food (biscuit, water, and dry foods), medical (medicine) and humanitarian help (tent, blanket) along with a team of 34 members consisted of
6 groups of physicians and Bangladesh Air force crew (bdnews24.com, April, 26; Prothom Alo, April, 26).
The U.S. government is providing $1 million in immediate assistance to Nepal. Aid agencies expressed concern for the welfare of survivors in the coming days, as overnight temperatures were expected to drop and people were forced to make do without electricity, running water and shelter. (US Geological Survey, CNN, April, 26; BBC News, April 26 and Prothom Alo, April 25).

The UK has deployed a team of humanitarian experts to Nepal to provide urgent support. A number of

British charities are assembling disaster teams to join the rescue effort.
Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children, the British Red Cross and Plan International UK are assessing the humanitarian need in the disaster struck area.
India: Officials in India confirmed at least 52 deaths in three states from the Earthquake. (bdnews24.com, April, 26)
Tibet: At least 17 people were killed and 53 injured along with roads buckled and buildings collapse in
Tibet. (bdnews24.com, April, 26
Avalanches in Himalayan: Twenty two (22) people have killed along with 237 missing on Mount Everest by avalanches caused by the Earthquake, the mountain’s worst-ever disaster (BdNews.24.com, April, 26)
Reporting from: NIRAPAD Secretariat
4/16 (1st Floor), Humayun Road, Block-B
Mohammadpur, Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
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Pictures that question the world

By?Pawel Kuczynski

ArtFido
Good set, except that Israel is curiously missing.

Pawel Kuczynski?is a Polish artist who specialises in images that make you think hard about the world we live in.

Continue reading “Pictures that question the world”

Not Just Another Brick In The Geopolitical Wall

By leveraging its ties with non-western powers, BRICS can check US hegemony

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A different worldview?BRICS leaders profess a shared vision of inclusive global growth and the rapid socio-economic transformation of their own nations. Photo: Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR
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Building blocks?The BRICS bank will give priority to loans for developing countries to finance infrastructure projects and environmentally sustainable development. Photo: Media Club South Africa

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Architecture as a way of life and place making

Rafiq Azam lecture
AIA CES: 1.5 LU|HSW
When:?5:30 PM – 8:00 PM MONDAY, JULY 28
Where:?At The Center
Rafiq Azam?is the principal of SHATOTTO architecture for green living, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He will introduce us to his work and city, which is also home to works by Louis Kahn. Azam?s ?green? is not about global ratings or the current sustainability trend. It is his response to the sky, water, and vegetation that surround him and his city. There is an apparent simplicity in Azam?s work that disguises and belies a complex fabric revealing the wonders of the cosmos. ?Shatotto? in Bangla means ?doing something continuously.? Azam creates spaces and structures for one?s senses and thoughts in the context of South Asia?s past and future. His presentation will coincide with the New York introduction of his monograph by SKIRA, the first ever published about a Bangladeshi architect.
Program
Reception: 5:30 – 6:00 PM
Lecture: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Opening Remarks
Lance Brown, FAIA, 2014 AIANY President
Introduction
Umberto Dindo, FAIA, Committee Chair, Architecture for Education
Speakers:
Rafiq Azam, Principal SHATOTTO-architecture for green living, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Rosa Maria Falvo, International commissions editor for SKIRA
Closing Remarks
Price:?Free for AIA and Asia Society members, and for students; $10 for non-members
Register Here
Sponsored by:?AIANY Committee on Architecture for Education
Supported by: Asia Society New York
 

Nature's Ballet

Celebrating the beauty of snowflakes

Artist Vyacheslav Ivanov has released a microscopic timelapse video that documents snowflakes while they crystalize. Though it doesn?t appear Ivanov?s written much about how he recorded these magical moments, the timelapse is captivating nonetheless. Enjoy the video below.

The Poetics of Space

Rosa Maria Falvo on the architecture of Rafiq Azam

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Travelling through Bangladesh, you soon become aware of the fluidity of nature, its ultimate omnipotence and perfection, and the comparatively contorted predicaments of human aggregation. Continue reading “The Poetics of Space”

Architecture for Green Living

Fifth book in the series on Bangladeshi Fine Art

Rafiq Azam

Earlier books have been by Shahidul Alam, Kazi Ghiyasuddin, Safiuddin?Ahmed and Zainul Abedin.

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With a foreword by Kerry Hill. Texts by Kazi Khaled Ashraf, Philip Goad, Rosa Maria Falvo, and Syed Manzoorul Islam Continue reading “Architecture for Green Living”

Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World

By Marlene Zuk??Images forwarded by Manzoor
“People are more afraid of insects than they are of dying, at least if you believe a 1973 survey published in?The Book of Lists. Only public speaking and heights exceeded the six-legged as sources of fear … And yet for centuries, some of the greatest minds in science have drawn inspiration from studying some of the smallest minds on earth. From Jean Henri Fabre to Charles Darwin to E.O. Wilson, naturalists have been fascinated by the lives of six-legged creatures that seem both frighteningly alien and uncannily familiar. Beetles and earwigs take care of their young, fireflies and crickets flash and chirp for mates, and ants construct elaborate societies, with internal politics that put the U.S. Congress to shame. …
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image019 Continue reading “Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World”

In pictures: India coal fires

Underground fires have been burning in the small dusty coal town of Jharia in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand for more than 80 years now. All efforts to put out the fires have been in vain. Photos: ?Arindam Mukherjee: BBC

Jharia coal fires
In places like Laltenganj, the fires are now burning overground. Continue reading “In pictures: India coal fires”

9th ASEF Journalists? Colloquium: New Delhi

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) is organising the 9th ASEF
Journalists? Colloquium, which will be held in New Delhi (Gurgaon),
India from?9-11 November 2013.
We are pleased to invite interested journalists from ASEM countries to apply for participation. To apply, more information can be found
here:
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Travel subsidies to and from New Delhi and accommodation will be
provided by the organisers for successful participants. Continue reading “9th ASEF Journalists? Colloquium: New Delhi”